the decision

Illeen Phillips and John Morris were a couple who were cleaning out their house in Brooklyn, New York. Illeen did the strategic part of it and John did the heavy lifting. They were going to move from his hometown of Brooklyn, New York to her hometown of Timmins, Ontario, Canada. Illeen decided to give away some things that her brother wanted, who also lived near them. Her brother Randy and her husband John were more like brothers than brother in laws. They had the same rugged personalities, were both blue collar workers and carried the same moralistic DNA. They might as well be twins instead of Randy being eight years older than John. She, herself, was ten years older than her husband, but you would never believe it because John acted older. Illeen was forty-nine, Randy was forty-seven and John was thirty-nine. Illeen's daughter, Asia was twenty. John rook care of Asia from the age of ten to twenty. Asia left home two weeks ago. She got a fashion line in Manhattan. It definitely paid well. Nobody knew or cared to know that Illeen was a Canadian female country pop superstar singer, whose stage name was Illeen Phillips and at home it was Illeen Morris. Illeen's net worth was six hundred million dollars and her husband, who was a foot courier and an overnight dispatcher, was worth two hundred and sixty thousand dollars. You would think that John was the richer one. He took care of the bills in the house. He never wanted a dime from his wife. John also made her, make him sign a prenup. Illeen was not happy with that arrangement. Illeen lives here with John because she was not always confident about herself and this was her safe place. Illeen considered this his place. John considered this place theirs. John and Illeen have been married for eight years. John has been anchor for both Illeen and Asia. It wasn't always easy. Confidence wasn't Illeen's strong point for a long while because of a devastating divorce with her ex-husband, Asia birth father. Now Illeen looks at John and says "I know we have a lot of work to do and it is one in the afternoon, but I need you to mail something for me. It was a contract for an endorsement they wanted me to sign. Yeah, I know, I could have done it through my phone, but I wanted to see the physical contract." Illeen was holding a manilla envelope with the proper postal stamps, where it was going and her return address. John asked "So you just need me to go to the post office?" Illeen said "If you can do that for me." John said "I can do it." Illeen said "I promise I won't have you do anything else today." John just shrugged his shoulders. "We did say we were going to start sending things to your brother's house. The work isn't a surprise." Illeen kissed him and said "I don't know what I would do without you." John said "You have done pretty well for yourself. You don't need anyone to do it for you." Illeen said " You took the weight of the work off my back." John said "Not to worry. I got this." Illeen took a deep breath. "I am worth a ton of money. I can get anything I want, yet my husband refuses to take any money from me." John said "It was instilled in me not to live off a woman. That I have to provide for her, regardless of her income." Illeen said "We have a substantial difference here." John said "It wasn't stated who would be making the money or who was wealthier. I was told to take care of my wife. It is something I take great pride in." Illeen said "I brag about you more than you do yourself." John said "It isn't wise to brag too much." Illeen said "It may not be wise, but I love it. I take great pride in my husband." John nodded. "So I will be off to the post office because there is an important document here" John was holding the envelope. Illeen said "Thanks." John nodded again. He went to his car, got in it and drove off. As John drove off, you could see Illeen's blue pickup truck. It has wear and tear in it, but it is durable. That is why Illeen named the vehicle Tough Tanya. Illeen sees her husband drive off. She knew the document was in safe hands. Nothing was ever too much for him. Illeen didn't say it much because it was hard for her to say, but her husband saved her life when it became apparent that Illeen had lost a lot of confidence in herself at one time. There were times that Illeen became angry at John, but she never once was she afraid or lacked confidence when John was beside her. It always took her breath away. She always regretted not having kids with him, but he was always happy with his step daughter Asia. He always considered Asia his daughter. Even, if Asia, herself had trouble expressing love to John. John never saw that as a problem. No matter how bad it got, even if John wasn't happy himself, he always made sure that his two favorite girls were doing well. This is why Randy loved John, but Illeen had the feeling that John didn't want to express anger or sadness because John thought it wasn't a manly thing to do. Illeen encouraged John to say anything he felt. It wasn't like John wasn't outspoken because he would let you know that you are doing something wrong. He didn't make himself an exception either. If he did something wrong and he didn't see it, if his wife and/or kid saw it and told him, they would be rewarded, because honesty was always the best policy. This is why Illeen loves John immensely.